You wouldn’t travel into the primeval forest without a tent and trusty hatchet; why go without a wily scout? Hirelings: Into the Wild is a free supplement to round out any wilderness-oriented Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign. Inside are full write-ups for four different hirelings: the camp follower, the guide, the porter, and the steward. This fully illustrated PDF also includes rules and helpful hints for using hirelings in your campaign.
The write up of the hirelings and the ideas for using are tremendous and a potential time saver for me as a GM. It's a free download but if I saw this in print as a pamphlet for $5 I would gladly pick it up.
I enjoyed this. I laughed out loud enough to get curious looks from my wife when I read the Camp Followers skills: Profession (Oldest). Very funny. I was glad to see the character filled out in a more practical and useful manner than the simple expression of that one profession might show. The porter and steward are going to become regualr features in some of my games, specifically one that has a mid-level party that has already come into a working estate (now the wizard doesn't have to pay the taxes and the fighter isn't always carrying in the luggage). Guides are always useful and seldom ever carrying ranger levels, so this one fits the bill just fine.
These four NPCs are easily adaptable to most any campaign. If you characters aren't high enough levels to afford hirelings yet, each one comes with several other suggested NPC roles as well!
Wow, this might be the first time a game I've ran (other than the WoD) where there was a prostitute as a regular NPC. Adding to the evergrowing list. Is the paper minis for these in the Paizo Paper Minis? Twittering this.
Wow, this might be the first time a game I've ran (other than the WoD) where there was a prostitute as a regular NPC. Adding to the evergrowing list. Is the paper minis for these in the Paizo Paper Minis? Twittering this.
Indeed they are. All four have minis in the Pathfinder Paper Mini set for Stolen Lands.
I downloaded it immediately, but I haven't had a chance to look it over in depth yet. It's been a busy day. It looks fantastic, however, and I'll be printing out a copy for the PCs to look over in case they want to hire some folks. :D
Any chance we'll get more hirelings (or books like this) for each of the Kingmaker Paper Minis. (I'd love to see more writeups for ectra characters...)
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
All in all, and excellent job. The characters are well thought-out and well-presented with enough information to make them interesting, but not so much that the flavor text overwhelms the mechanics. You do a good job presenting the new feats and mechanics, and none of them are overbalancing to what I consider the median average for most games. I look forward to seeing future material, Crystal; thank you for sharing this with us!
This is great! I love it. I'll be using these for Kingmaker, definitely.
One of my players has mentioned picking up some hirelings along the way, and I've been thinking about how much I need a pernickety steward character to support the leadership roles whilst undermining their confidence with snide remarks. :p
There seems to be a difference between the given wage of 3sp/level for skilled labor and the wage listed for the guide and steward. They both are listed as 2sp/day and are 2nd level.
I'm pretty new to Pathfinder Paper Minis, an I just go this one beacause it was free. I have a question about printing them though. Is there a page deticated to just minis in the file, or do I print them out with thier info sheets and cut them out from there?
I'm pretty new to Pathfinder Paper Minis, an I just go this one beacause it was free. I have a question about printing them though. Is there a page deticated to just minis in the file, or do I print them out with thier info sheets and cut them out from there?
These are Crystal's character writeups for minis that appear in this set. The actual minis are there, not here.
I really liked these. They fit in nicely with what I'm doing with my Kingmaker campaign, and I've even started using Anando as one of my point-of-views for chronicling events.
The flavour of the four hirelings seems very suitable for the Kingmaker campaign. I must admit, I have never considered the idea of the camp follower for a group of PC adventurer's but it makes SO MUCH SENSE.
I have one question, why did you select the salary you have given for each.
You have given a comment that an unskilled hireling receives 1 cp/day per level. This qould equate to a 10th level character for the unskilled hireling given in the Pathfinder main rules. Also, your skilled hirelings - the guide and the steward - are listed with 2 sp/day which is less than the minimum listed in the Pathfinder rules.
I assume you have chosen these values as you think those given in the basic rules are overpriced?
I like the mechanics for the hirelings and their various benefits - not too powerful, but they can definitely help a party out. The histories for each hireling are great too - I especially like the story for the Guide, Anza.
Thank you for this, Crystal! :D
Your Friendly Neighborhood Dalesman
"Bringing Big D**n Justice to the Bad Guys Since 1369 DR"
Absolutely amazing stuff. I made a Chellish noble bard for the express purpose of having my companion, porter and steward run for cover and yell things like "Best of luck, M'lord! We are rooting for you!" Keep it up, Crystal. Can't wait for the next one!
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Crystal,
Thanks for the great product. Just to let you know, in my campaign, the players have just finished Stolen Lands.
They rejected the steward's offer to add a civilized hand to their dealings. They grudgingly accept Naleska's presence.
And they named their capital city after Jacobi since he died in a worg attack.
The capital city of Jacobi lies at the heart of the burgeoning county of Valore. Home to the annual Bandit's End festival, this growing community, built on the ruins of the fallen Stag Lord's fort, was named after the loyal packmaster of the courageous Countess Zandra. Torr, the Countess' smitten Shoanti assassin was once rumored to remark "Jacobi always said that he had at least three children he knew of, and possibly countless others, and now look at us, we're all children of Jacobi."
This is great! Why did I discover this so late? Doesn't matter, my group is camped at Oleg's at the moment, so a great opportunity to introduce some hirelings...
By the way, are there any detailed rules for King of the Stump?
I got this and I love it. The non-player character classes rarely get much love, and it's even more rarely so well done as in this. Many kudos to the author!
Heh, looking at Naleska makes me wonder if she'd end up running a Herbalist's Shop and/or Brothel in the new town the PCs will make. She's got the skills for either, after all.
Found this checking other products. Worth a bump. Good work Crystal.
My only doubt is that I agree with Ordinary Kraken about the pay for the hirelings services. I will multiply it by 10.
I will absolutely use them in my Kingmaker campaign.